[concretegurl]

Originally Posted by Rhetts_mama

Shhhh... No one has told Rhett that he doesn't weigh 50 pounds. Even the lab across the street is afraid to tell him And I would really hate to wrestle a 50 pound dog for my pillow, I hardly ever win as it is.

I agree with Brit, though. I'd like to see the standard increased a bit to try and discourage the purposeful breeding of the really tiny ones. 7 pounds is small, but so is a 10 pounder. The difference in the muscle mass though seems like night and day.

The standard (from what I've read-please anyone correct this) used to be larger but when the standard here was made smaller it was changed there the first Yorkie champion (OMY I can't think of the name) was 17lbs! But then again that was during the "early stages of breed creation" so as someone not familiar with how all that goes it seems downsizing has been done quite a bit to a realistic rate...I like to think of my as "historically correct" (LOL I know right)
I'm thinking none of the original breeds used to create the Yorkie were over 25lbs so...not sure the standard should be changed (or even want to go there as many may take offense) but agree further downsizing should be discouraged (not to for any reason other than the health issues that are more prevalent).
Interesting food for thought though. In the same breath Great Danes were bred to be so oversized they have shorter life spans and health issues...